Microfluidics-based preparation of pH responsive polymeric nanoparticles targeting ischemic myocardial injury

Throughout the history, there has been a wide selection of drugs developed for therapy of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Despite a broad spectrum of different therapeutic strategies to deaccelerate and try to reverse the progression of cardiovascular diseases has been achieved, only a modest amelioration of the health of the CVD patients was achieved, as the mortality remains high by being the cause of nearly one in every three deaths yearly, myocardial infarction being involved in majority of these cases. Novel solutions are being studied to overcome this problem, one of them being nanoparticles, which may provide potential solution by carrying drugs to the desired location. Microfluidics technique may further improve the properties of nanoparticles, being a platform that allows the production of homogenous and repeatable batches that are non-dependent by the operator using it. In this thesis, it is described how microfluidics-based preparation of spermine-functionalised acetalated dextran nanoparticles co-loaded with a trisubstituted isoxazole and curcumin perform in physicochemical and in vitro experiments, in order to evaluate their potential in the application of ischemic myocardial injury therapy.